Moonshadow Belgian Shepherds, Australia Our History How Moonshadow Kennels come into being..... In 1981 we were living in Adelaide and we purchased a sweet loving puppy that we named Kandy, which we later discovered was a part-Belgian Shepherd. At that time, there were few Belgian Shepherds in Australia, and very, very few in South Australia. We were delighted with our new puppy which we purchased as a companion for our other dog "Spot", a German Shepherd cross. Our two dogs were an integral part of our family and our son's constant companions over the ensuing years. In 1991 we lost our much-loved older dog at the age of 15yrs, and after a period of grieving we decided to go looking for another Belgian Shepherd puppy. In 1994 we discovered that there was a lovely litter of Belgian Shepherd Groenendael puppies in Bungendore, close to the ACT border, so off we went to see them. The pups were 5 weeks old and full of life and mischief. Amongst them was a very confident little girl who became ours at the age of 9 weeks. Her pedigree name is Mashiara Moonshadow who we called "Shadow". One day when Shadow and Lesley were walking in the park, they met a lady, Rae Officer, with her Groenendael puppy Ringo. Rae strongly encouraged Lesley to show Shadow (then aged 6 months) in the Conformation "Show" ring, and Rae became a firm friend and was instrumental in helping Lesley and Rob to understand and enjoy the fun of Dog Showing. Kandy and Spot 1990 Kandy and Shadow 1994 BSD Club of NSW members fundraising In 1995, we became registered as breeders under the prefix Moonshadow Kennels, with the Royal New South Wales Canine Council (now known as Dogs New South Wales), the organisation that controls all aspects of pedigree dogs in the state of New South Wales. Then in order to understand and learn more about the genetics, health, care, breeding and nutritional needs of dogs, in 1997 Lesley undertook a 1 year full-time Diploma Course in all aspects of Canine Care in Sydney which she passed with a High Distinction! We were active members of The Belgian Shepherd Dog Club of NSW Inc for many years and were closely involved in activities such as the Club Shows and fund-raising events, and held offices including Vice President and Newsletter Editor. Over the past 15 years we have regularly competed with our beloved belgians in the show ring and bred several litters under both the Moonshadow prefix, and the GraeShadow prefix, which we co-owned with Camila Hrymek who lives near Melbourne. We have had some spectacular wins with these dogs, winning Best in Specialty Show, Runner up Best in Specialty Show and Multiple Class wins in Specialty Shows with our belgians. We are very proud of what we have achieved and continue to strive to breed and show belgians that are healthy, outgoing, confident and true to type. Our love of dogs, where it all began..... Both Lesley and Rob Kane had dogs as adolescents - Les had a German Shepherd named Sonny and Rob had a Collie Rough named Duke (Rob still has the pedigree papers for his Dukie). Duke 1955 Our first dog - Spot as a puppy in 1977 In 1977, we decided that it was time to get our first dog together. We started referring to this potential puppy as "Spot", so when we went looking, it was easy to recognise our little puppy when we first saw him. He was of mixed breeding but a lovely dog and a great companion for our son Mark as he grew up. In 1980 we decided to get a companion for Spot and our little Kandy Kane came to join us. Kandy was a wonderful, affectionate dog and one year we visited the dog ring at the Sydney Royal Show and were delighted to see a whole group of Belgian Shepherds who looked like her. She was obviously a Belgian Shepherd Groenendael cross. 1994 Our first Pure-bred Belgian Shepherd..... After Spot passed away, we wanted company for Kandy, so decided to look for a full-bred Belgian Shepherd, since our experience with Kandy was so positive. We got our lovely girl Shadow (Mashiara Moonshadow) from Melissa Gore in Bungendore in 1994, and have never had a moments regret! Shadow won her first Challenge at the Bulli District Kennel Club Show on 30 April, 1995. This was the start of a successful show career for Shadow, who had attained her Australian Champion title by the end of 1995. She went on to amass 579 Challenge points prior to her retirement in mid-1999. Her biggest victory was winning Challenge Bitch and Runner-up Best of Breed in the face of strong competition and with a Belgian judge at the Sydney Royal Show in April, 1997. We were so proud of our girl! 1995 And our first Belgian Shepherd Tervueren..... Shadow was the start of Moonshadow Kennels, named after her, and around a year later we were lucky enough to acquire our second Belgian, an adorable little Tervueren boy named Baxter (Barakuma Knight Errant) from Pat Marchevsky, then as now the Secretary of the Belgian Shepherd Dog Club of NSW. Baxter quickly grew up to become a big strong handsome boy, and also distinguished himself in the show ring, obtaining his Australian Champion title in September 1996 and winning 328 Challenge points from February 1996 until his retirement from the showring in March 2003. Shadow and Baxter 1995 Baxter 1996 1997 Our first litter..... In 1997 we decided to have our first litter, and bred Shadow with Harley (Australian Champion Zellik Notorious Flyer A.D.), who was imported from the UK and jointly owned by Camila Hrymek of Graebelge Kennels and Helene Cremona of Lumineux Kennels. We had five lovely puppies, two boys - Zulu and Mali, and three girls - Peppercorn, Bumble-Bee and Pixie. Mali, Bumble Bee and Pixie all went to loving homes while Peppy and Zulu stayed with us. The proud parent! Shadow and her pups 1997 Shadow and Zulu 2005 Zulu went on to become an Australian Champion in his own right, and won Best Working Dog, Runner-up Best Working Dog and Best Australian Bred Working Dog at many shows prior to his retirement in 2007. 2002-2004 Our imported Champions..... Lesley and Rob at the Lesley in the ring at the French Specialty 2002 French Specialty 2004 In 1999 we were lucky enough to be able to attend the Specialty Show of the Northern Belgian Shepherd Dog Club in the UK and in 2002 we took our first Belgian Shepherd oriented trip to Europe. We attended the French Belgian Shepherd Specialty Show and traveled around France meeting a number of the most famous French breeders. Since then we have attended the French Specialty again in 2003, 2004 and 2008, as well as the Dutch Specialty and the British Specialty shows. These trips led to friendships that enabled us to import our Paco (English Champion and now Australian Grand Champion Corsini Lysander) from Audrey Maguire and Amanda Mclaren of Corsini Kennels in the UK in late 2002, and Rhianne (now Australian Champion Ebontide Parisian Affair ) from Janice and Roger Clifford of Ebontide Kennels also in the UK in late 2004. Paco arrives - May 2003 Rhianne arrives - January 2005 Paco and his sons, daughters and grand children have consistently done well in the show ring. Because of the success of his progeny, he won "Best Sire in Show" at five Belgian Shepherd Specialty shows from 2003 through 2008. His daughter Zoe (Graeshadow Camomile) won Best of Breed at the Sydney Royal Show in April, 2006, with Paco himself winning Runner up Best of Breed, a fantastic father-daughter win! Paco went on to win Best of Breed himself at the 2007 Sydney Royal Show, and in May 2008 had achieved the required 1000 Challenge Points to be awarded his Australian Grand Champion title. Although mainly retired after that, he won 3 Best Veteran in Show titles at Belgian Specialty Shows in 2008 and 2009. Rhianne achieved her Australian Championship title in late 2005, and won a number of awards such as Best Baby Puppy, Best Minor Puppy and Best Junior in the Working Dog Group. 2006 Our second litter..... In 2006 we mated our Paco and our Rhianne and seven lovely Groenendael puppies were born on Halloween - 31 October 2006. Five went to lovely homes, including one, Kyra, to our friend Rae Officer. For some months, we kept two puppies ourselves, the boy Magic and the girl Avalon, both of whom did well in the show ring and were awarded their Australian Champion titles. Magic did exceptionally well, winning two Baby Puppy in Group awards, two Minor Puppy in Group, three Puppy in Group and Runner-up Best in Group by the age of 9 months! He also placed first in a number of the Sweepstakes events run for 6-12 month old dogs. Magic at 8 months Avalon at 8 months 2008 More lovely puppies..... In 2008 we had two litters of beautiful puppies. The first was sired by our Paco mated to Belabelg Angels Gift ("Bonny"), owned by Gordon and Karen Anderson, with the result being 3 male and 6 female Tervuerens born on 20 June 2008. One of these, Dream, stayed with us at Moonshadow and began a successful show career. At various shows as a youngster, she was awarded Best Minor Puppy, Best Puppy and Best Junior in the Working Dog Group, first place in a Sweepstakes for all 6-12 months olds, Runner up Best Dog in the Working Dog Group, and was twice awarded the Best Junior in the Show. One of these times was at the Belgian Shepherd Dog Club of NSW Specialty Show in August 2009. She was also picked as Puppy of the Day at the 2009 Sydney Royal Show. She was awarded her Australian Champion title on 6 October 2009. Her sister Raina has been shown by Elspeth and Michael in the Newcastle, NSW area, and has also had a successful show career, becoming an Australian Champion on 5 February, 2010 and later attaining her JDX and CCD obedience titles. The second litter brought together two stunning Groenendaels, Aust Ch Mirribandi Perfect Tzar, owned by Kathryn Winton and Steve Torcetti, and Xanova Rose Noir (Imp UK), owned by Rae Officer. Born on 16 September 2008 were 3 male and 4 female puppies. We again kept one for the show ring, our pretty little Dancer. Dancer has also been a successful show dog, receiving her Australian Champion title on 18 December, 2009. On her way to her title, she was awarded first place in a Sweepstakes for all 3-6 Month olds, Best Puppy, Best Minor Puppy and Best Puppy in the Working Dog Group at various shows, and Best Puppy in Show. Shown below are Dream at around 9 months (left) and Dancer at around 6 months at the Tarago Show Ground. At this show in March 2009, Dream won first place in the 6-12 months old puppy sweepstakes, and went on to win Best Minor Puppy in the Working Dog Group. Then Dancer won Best Baby Puppy in the Working Dog Group, and followed it up by winning Best Baby Puppy in the entire Show! 2009-2010 Our Sad Losses..... Although the year 2009 was successful in many respects, it ended on a very sad note with the loss of our beloved Baxter at age 14 on 10 December, 2009 (see Baxter's vale.) Then a few weeks later, on 27 February 2010, we also lost Baxter’s best mate and lifelong companion Peppy, age 12 (see Peppy's vale.) Then in a third blow, our “Perfect Gentleman” Paco, also age 12, departed us on 5 April, 2010 (see Paco's vale.) Finally, at the end of 2010, our beloved Shadow left us, at age 16. She was our first pure-bred Belgian Shepherd, and we named our Moonsahdow Belgian Shepherds Kennel after her, as her pedigree name was Aust Champion Mashiara Moonshadow. For more on our girl, see Shadow's vale. We gratefully accept all the condolences we received from family, friends and fellow dog enthusiasts during these sad periods. 2010-2011 Moving House and a new adventure... Following a winter trip to sunny Queensland in 2009, we decided to acquire a holiday home up there, and managed to do so in February 2010. We thus spent the winter of 2010 in Queensland and competed in some of the shows there. We later decided to sell our 130 year old house in the Bowral, NSW area and in 2011 bought a newer, low maintenance house nearby. All of this activity on the housing front resulted in limited activity on the show front during 2010 and 2011, and no real time for new litters. However, Dream’s sister Raina continued her winning ways throughout this period, receiving her Australian Champion title in February 2010, her CCD title in July 2010, JDX title in July 2011 and her AD title in October 2011. We were pleased and surprised when Moonshadow Kennels was named “ Advance Best Belgian Shepherd Tervueren Breeder for 2010” by Dogzonline.com.au largely on the basis of Raina’s achievements. Thanks as always to Elspeth and Michael! Late 2011 saw us embark on a new adventure, with the arrival of “Coco” (Daesdaemar Moon and Stars) in September. Coco is a Japanese Spitz from Amanda Huggins at Daesdaemar Kennels. So we returned to the show ring in November, 2011, with Coco supplementing our two show Belgians - Dream and Dancer. Dancer rallied to the cause, picking up three Best Australian Breds in the Working Dog Group in a row! 2012 More Changes... Early 2012 saw some pleasant surprises as well as a very sad one. Amongst the positives were our 14 year old Zulu winning first place in a Veteran’s over 10 years of age sweepstakes in January, 2012 , after having been out of the ring since 2007. Then Dancer won Runner-up Best Working Dog at the Kangaroo Valley show in February. We then spent a few weeks up in Queensland and were delighted when Dancer won Best in Show at a Belgian Shepherd Specialty show held by the Belgian Shepherd Dog Club of Queensland in March. April 2012 began on a happy note, with a litter of 6 lovely Tervueren puppies being born on 10 April to our Dream. However, very sadly only a few days later, on 20 April, our 14.5 year old Zulu passed away (see Zulu's Vale.). He was the last of our “old dogs” which included our foundation bitch Shadow, our first Tervueren Baxter, Zulu’s sister Peppy and of course our lovely imported Paco. Thus Zulu’s going represented the end of an era for Moonshadow and us, but we are sure that more adventures lie ahead. In addition to the vales whose links are shown above, photos of gone but not forgotten dogs can be seen in the "In Memory" section of this website, while the others mentioned above can be seen in the "Meet Our Dogs" "Puppies" or "Friends Dogs" sections. Comments, questions or like more information? Please contact us, Rob & Lesley Kane, Email: robandlesley48@ozemail.com.au Telephone 0408-202219
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